Signal Hill Council endorses Richard Lewis for LBUSD School Board

Last week Richard Lewis received the endorsements of Signal Hill Mayor Ellen Ward, and Councilmembers Tina Hansen, Michael Noll and Larry Forester. They join Long Beach Vice Mayor Val Lerch, and Councilmembers Suja Lowenthal and Robert Garcia in showing their support for the candidate.

The Long Beach Unified School District also serves the city of Signal Hill, and is constructing two new schools in the city. The election will be held on December 29, 2009, to fill a vacancy in the 3rd District.

“I am humbled to receive these endorsements, and honored that the Mayor and Councilmembers in our neighboring City, whose children attend LBUSD schools, believe I am the best candidate to represent them on the School Board,” said Lewis. “I look forward to working with the Signal Hill City Council to serve the children and families of the 3rd District and be a strong advocate for our community, as well as a good steward of our dollars during these difficult budget challenges.”

Richard Lewis, Long Beach business owner and parent of two preschool aged children, announced his candidacy for Long Beach Unified School District Board October 1. For Lewis, the election is about maintaining a commitment to investing in children at a time when critical budget issues face the district.

“Over the next few years, our school district will confront major budget issues and organizational challenges that will require a strong leader with proven experience in fiscal management to create a responsible and stable budget,” stated Lewis.

Lewis, a resident of Downtown Long Beach’s East Village area, is active on the Downtown Long Beach Association’s Executive Board and President of the East Village Association.

Lewis’s vision for the district includes three main goals:

Ensuring adequate financial resources. Leveraging public and private resources to build a long term, sustainable plan for our schools while restoring the district’s fiscal strength.

Improving academic achievement. By working with the greater Long Beach community, engaging parents as partners in the process, and fighting to maintain small class sizes, LBUSD can continue raising test scores, creating after school programs and modernizing classrooms while expanding academic enrichment programs such as art, music and physical education.

Building strong community partnerships. The 3rd district is the most urbanized and densely populated in LBUSD, and impacted by a shortage of adequate parking. Schools and communities should be working together as good neighbors to find common sense solutions to every day problems and strengthen the linkages between communities and schools.